Holocene epoch
- noun
- /ˈhoʊləˌsiːn ˈɛpɒk/
- Specialized
:
época del Holoceno
- About 10,000 years ago in the Holocene epoch, interglacial climatic conditions conducive to the development of modern humans began to prevail.
Examples
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Milankovitch cycles act over longer or as long as the Holocene epoch.
Blog text (9) -
Which is kind of what you asked as well: "As the article says, CO2 has been lower through the Holocene epoch even when temperatures have been much warmer than now."
Blog text (9) -
In 2008, the Geological Society of America joined an already established chorus of other scientists in announcing that the world had entered a new period of geological history, moving beyond the Holocene epoch, considered to have begun after the last Ice Age some 12,000 years ago and characterized by the generally stable weather that allowed human civilization to flourish.
Academic text (2011) -
The often unwritten or unstated assumption is that the Earth System (see the box on page 10) will continue to operate largely in the state in which it has since the Holocene epoch began (at the end of the last ice age) and that global change will be manifested as perturbations on this slate.
Academic text (2005) -
The Holocene epoch is significant because it marks the time when human civilizations began to thrive.
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Climate patterns during the Holocene epoch have changed significantly, influencing agriculture and settlement.
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Scientists study the Holocene epoch to understand the environmental changes that have occurred since the last ice age.
Synonyms
1
9.1
A period of Earth's history starting about 11,700 years ago and continuing now
A period of Earth's history lasting about ten thousand years
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward name + category combination: knowing 'Holocene' (the geological period starting ~11,700 years ago) and 'epoch' (a subdivision of geological time) lets a learner infer this refers to the epoch called the Holocene. This naming pattern is compositional and cross-linguistically common, so the meaning is immediately derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Holocene epoch comes from the Greek words holos and kainos, which mean 'whole' and 'new'. The name paints a picture of the world becoming a 'new whole' after the big ice age, so it is used for the warm period that began about 11,700 years ago and continues today.